SAVE GOA, CM-ji By Valmiki Faleiro Goa ails from an aching heart. Goa’s heart – geographic, spiritual and cultural – is Antruz, today’s Ponda taluka. Ponda is in peril. But, before that, a bit on why I describe Ponda so. Ponda is the repository of our ancient deities. It is Goa’s foremost temple taluka, which cradled her ancient, and mercifully still extant, spiritual and social mores. Here’s a brief primer. The Portuguese, after liberating Goa from the Muslims in 1510, themselves unleashed a wave of religious persecution beginning 1541. Ponda, like other of Goa’s hinterland talukas, was held variously by the Sultanate of Bijapur and the Hindus of Soundem, often as feudatories of the Sultans. Temples were razed; idols of the village god (Gram Devta) and family clan gods (Kul Devtas) were taken, mostly, to the haven of Ponda – in camouflage, or on the head in the dead of the night. Here’s a brief list of the principal Salcete deities shifted to Ponda (remember Salcete included present day Mormugao, which was detached into a separate taluka only in the late 19th Century, for better administration of the Mormugao port, then being modernized together with the rail link to British India): Bhageshwar from Arossim to Talauli, Betal from Betalbatim to Kavlem, Bhairav and Kamaxi from Camorlim to Bandora and Shiroda resp., Mahalaxmi and Ravalnath from Colva to Bandora and Talauli resp., Manguesh from Cortalim to Mangueshi (Priol), Ramnath and Vamanishwar from Loutulim to Ramnathi (Bandora) and Dhavali resp., Santeri (Shantadurga) from Quelossim to Kavlem, Mahadev and Ishwar from Racaim to Agapur and Kavlem resp., Kamaxi from Raia to Shiroda, Santeri and Laxmi- Narayana from Sancoale to Veling and, the most feared, from Salcete’s most beautiful temple, Mahalsa, from old Verna to new Mardol (Priol.) Ponda is not the only one in peril. Several areas of Goa similarly face the ‘Parashu’ (axe, in Sanskrit.) Like Nagoa-Verna, the village of twice born “Nagas,” priestly Padye Bhats, said to have been settled there by the axe-wielding god, Parashuram himself. Nagvenkars were later delivered from the harassment of Garuda, the evil eagle god, by no less than Lord Shankar and his wife Uma. (Ah, how I love Goa’s lore!) Keri-Ponda, Nagoa-Verna, and other parts of Goa are in peril. When so many organs of the body face danger, can the body itself survive? Minuscule Goa is imperiled by 18 behemoths called Special Economic Zones (SEZs.) Land requirement details of 15 were ferreted out by journo Fred Noronha: 54,30,160 sq. metres. What’s more, almost all this land is on plateaux … Keri-Ponda, Nagoa- Verna, Sancoale, Socorro, Colvale and Quitol-Betul. Plateaux are a crucial component of the eco-system. Among other things, they are a natural rainwater harvesting system, the aquifers, that recharge springs and ground water. Destruction of plateaux will not only play havoc with springs and ground water but, in the event of toxic industrial effluents seeping into the ground, contaminate and kill the villages below. SEZs spell potential disaster for all surrounding villages below the plateaux. A disaster that would engulf the local populace, ruin local natural sources like land and water, and upturn the demographic profile of Goa. So, what are SEZs? They are designed as industrial engines (without a heart, of course!) meant to catalyze development in undeveloped and barren areas of India. SEZs have been granted a host of incentives, like exemption from taxes and laws. They could be dubbed ‘Industrial Republics,’ free from local taxes and pesky local governments. Goa’s geographic and demographic size does not lend itself to the very idea of SEZs. These may be OK for those states of India where an average district is three times the size of Goa. CM-ji, you, a professed religious man, preside, however unwittingly, over the ‘gifting’ (@ Rs.80/m2 !) of vast tracks of lil’le Goa’s land to an entity over which your own government will have little control. Do remember that the land was snatched from Goans under the Land Acquisition Act. Lands in Goa were held in the name of the village deity, in common, under the institution of the ‘Gaunkari’ renamed ‘Comunidade’ by the Portuguese. Please save Goa from the SEZs. Scrap them all. I know it is easier said. I know you carry unwanted baggage – SEZs, PPP, Casinos … what have you – a bequest inherited from your onetime patron, Pratapsing Rane. But, you are Goa’s CEO. I know you bear the good of Goa, and her gods, at heart. Also remember many Goans arrived here from Bengal. SEZs commove. Don’t let another Nandigram happen here. (ENDS) The Valmiki Faleiro weekly column at: http://www.goanet.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=330 ====================================================================== The above article appeared in the November 18, 2007 edition of the Herald, Goa
